The spacecraft, designated ROS-7K, could be used for geophysics, astrophysics, military observations of the earth in both active and passive mode, and monitoring of enemy fleets and worldwide ship movements. Never went past preliminary design.

In 1983 NPO Energia, NPO Radiopribor (Gusev) and the NPO for Digital Equipment (Shishkin) proposed the Multipurpose Satellite Gals. The spacecraft would use the Uragan navigation system and be launched by the Zenit launch vehicle.

The man-tended satellite would be placed in a 600 km orbit at an inclination of 64.8 deg. Two crew would spend seven days at a time, repairing equipment and replenishing the spacecraft's propellant and gases. The satellite was divided into the service module and an antennae module. The 30 m diameter antennae would cover a 35 km swath of the earth with 1.5 m ground resolution. It could also be used as a radiospectrometer and radiometer in the millimeter range.

The ROS-7K would have had a total mass of 22.4 metric tons, of which 4.5 metric tons would be equipment and 700 kg the antenna. 119 square meters of solar panels would provide 15 kW of power, of which 5 to 6 kW would be available for experiments. Pointing stability was 0.006 to 0.1 deg/sec. On board storage devices would allow up to 30 days of operation without communication with the earth. The spacecraft would cover the entire earth's surface between 68 deg N and 70 deg S latitude, with a survey swath of from 100 to 900 km, and a data capture swath of from 15 to 900 km. Resolution in radiometric mode was 3 to 6 m, in radar mode 17-30 to 11-20, and astrophysical sensitivity 4 to 10 x 10^-28 w/m2/hz.

Zenit Zenit was to be a modular new generation medium Soviet launch vehicle, replacing the various ICBM-derived launch vehicles in use since the 1960's (Tsiklon and Soyuz). A version of the first stage was used as strap-ons for the cancelled Energia heavy booster. But it was built by Yuzhnoye in the Ukraine; when the Soviet Union broke up planned large-scale production for the Soviet military was abandoned (Angara development was begun as an indigenous alternative). Launch pads were completed only at Baikonur; those at Plesetsk were never finished and are planned to be completed as Angara pads. However the vehicle found new life as a commercial launch vehicle, launched from a sea platform by an American/Ukrainian consortium. More...